Bass fishing on the Columbia

[nativefish]

I was gonna give bass fishing a shot for a change. I go an area on the Columbia kind of by The Dalles where I can fish. What water temp should I be looking for in order to have the best shot? Also if I was going to purchase one or two types of lures to throw at them (spinners, rubber creatures, plugs, etc) ? And it seems like there are a lot of ways to rig your tackle for bass fishing so if a particular rigging works better with a recomended lure please point me in the right direction. I just want to try and get some research in before I go to increase my chances of being successful and see if this is even fun at all. If all else fails I think they will hit a bobber and worm.

 

[tomriker]

mid/upper 50's temp wise is when they are usually a bit more active, in the spring soft plastics texas rigged seem to work. salamanders/brushhogs, slip weight on your line or weightless. jigs will do the trick too. im not a river fisher though, so you might want to disregard all of that :think:

 

[azbohunter]

I caught these two,4 1/4 and 4 3/4 on Hot Lips Express/1/4 Chartreuse in June of 2010 just above where the power lines cross the river just below The Dalles. Between the island and shore on the south bank in some quiet water on the weedline. I know a lot of guys do well on jigs and plastics.

 

[Finneus Polebender]

Hit LM bass that way on a couple occasions, both in sloughs off the Columbia, both early season, last year was swim baits " even got a couple bonus snagged giant carp" clear out Boardman way in mid march. Year before was between Hood River and the Dalles with the early slow rolled spinner baits black ones and whitew/ chartreuse my two faves prefer the lg colorodo blades on em, they really work well on fish settin up to ambush. Stuck a couple in the 6lb range that trip! that was later in the year more towards mid april.

 

[nativefish]

awesome info! I am going to take your advice and wait until the water gets above 50 degrees.

 

[rl206]

I used to fish the Umatilla pool yrs back, I swear by the Hot Lips and the spinnerbaits. I have drove the gorge multiple times but I have never stopped to fish around the Dalles yet. But def. have some waiting to do still...